Burney's Bytes will focus primarily on the local preps sports scene, but will also touch on some college and pro athletics, mostly in regards to athletes who hail and have played high school sports in Oakland County. My goal for the blog is to be conversational and anecdotal, a more relaxed and free formal take on high school athletics than you see in regular game day coverage.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Priceless Pair

Local prep hoop standouts and siblings Jodan and Austin Price of Birmingham Detroit Country Day have been taking dual recruiting visits to college campuses across the state in recent weeks. Last week, the Price brothers visited Eastern Michigan, where former Country Day all-state center Da' Shonte Riley recently transferred to from Syracuse. A week earlier, they were up in Mt. Pleasant visiting Central Michigan.

Might this indicate that Jodan (6-7 forward), an incoming senior and Austin (6-2 guard), entering his junior year, will be a package deal, meaning whichever school lands Jodan, will also get Austin as well? Burney thinks there's a good chance.

Obviously, only time will tell.

Here's what we do know

The Prices grew up in Indiana and transferred to Country Day last fall after getting their first taste of varsity action in Indianapolis the previous year. Jodan, a silky smooth wing who reminds me of a local prep version of Tayshaun Prince, started more than half of the Yellowjackets' games last season and currently has offers from EMU, CMU, Lamar and St. Josephs. As a junior he averaged 10 points per game and shot 50% from 3-point distance.

Austin, a heady combo-guard, came off the bench for the 'Jackets in 2011. Both are expected to start in 2012 and are each highly ranked in their respective state recruiting classes.

From my perspective, I'm glad to hear the Eagles and Chips are recruiting the county again. It's been a while since either Eastern or Central landed a solid local recruit. That said, both programs have had success with county players in the somewhat recent past. Previous Country Day stars David Webber, Jason Webber and Mike Manciel and former Birmingham Seaholm point guard Jon Borovich, all had fine careers with CMU. David Webber was MAC MVP in 2002 and Borovich was Chippewas' team captain in 2000 and 2001.

The star player on EMU's 1991 league championship and NCAA Sweet 16 team was center Marcus Kennedy, an all-stater in the 1980s with Troy, who was eventually drafted into the NBA by the Portland Trailblazers.

About Me

Scott M. Burnstein grew up in Bloomfield Hills and attended school at Birmingham Roeper, where he earned multiple varsity letters in both basketball and baseball, and has been following the local preps scene since the 1980's. Mr. Burnstein attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he received a bachelors of arts degree in political science, and the John Marshall Law School, in Chicago, Illinois, where he got his Juris Doctrate. He has covered high school sports for both the Detroit Free Press and the Oakland Press, and is the author of the 2007 regional best-selling book, The Motor City Mafia - A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit, Family Affair - Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in The Chicago Mafia (2010), Mafia Prince - The Crazy Phil Leonetti Story (2012) and The Detroit True Crime Chronicles (2013).